SMG2 was early enough in the year that it almost slipped my mind when coming up with this list, which would have been a shame. I loved SMG1, and 2, while more similar to its predecessor than any Mario game since the FDS version of Super Mario Bros. 2, is distinctly NOT more of the same. The diversity and variety in this game really blew my mind, and kept me coming back. This is the best implementation of Yoshi since Yoshi’s Island, and it’s great to be doing something familiar that is at the same time totally new. Really, that’s the whole game, new and familiar at the same time.

Game of the Year:Super Meat Boy

I first read about this when I took the assignment from Brandon to interview the PAX 10 developers this year. I checked out the web game and, frankly, it sucked. Not because of the art, or the level design, but because when it comes down to it platform games are about running and jumping, and when the running and jumping doesn’t work, the game just isn’t fun.

It took about ten seconds on the show floor to realize that they had made a serious effort to fix that issue, and the result is fantastic. Sure, it’s super hard, sure, some of the jokes are cheesy, it doesn’t matter. It just feels so fucking tight and clean, I’ll replay old levels just for the joy of it. Too many games fail at stuff like that.

Game That Fails at Stuff Like That:Limbo

Limbo was pretty, interesting, and had some decent puzzles, but at the end of the day, the running and jumping sucked, so fuck this game. Sure, I finished it, but it was basically hate fucking by the end.

Game I Don’t Let Myself Play Anymore Due to Risk of Addiction and Depression Spiral:Minecraft

Holy Fucking Shit You Guys. Holy Fucking Shit.

Game That Finally Got me to Play Online With Strangers:TeamFortress 2

OK, I’m like two years late, but after a few forays with the Orange Box on 360, it was my unemployment that allowed me to really dive into this one on the PC seriously. The amount of polish and refinement still being applied to this game is just awe inspiring. They added like 15 new weapons THIS MONTH. That’s fucking crazy.

Game I Actually Played The Most:Carcassonne on iOS

I basically always have two or three games of this going with friends of mine. If you have an iOS device, get it and invite me. It’s fantastic.

Honorable Mention for Being Crazy Adorable:Kriby’s Epic Yarn

Thing I Spent a Lot of Free Time and Money on That Wasn’t Videogames:Board games

Having real life friends be in my house talking and being social while playing some really clever well done games has been a huge part of 2010 for me, and has been a big part of what I’ve done with time that I historically used to play video games. It’s probably because I’m a married person. Anyway, on the board games tip:
Small World
Pandemic
7 Wonders
Dominion
Battlestar Galactica
Ticket to Ride
Puerto Rico
Dixit
Settlers of Catan